Wednesday, 30 June 2010

A 37-year old man was killed by unspecified gangsters at his home at Kavu Village in Geita District, Mwanza City, at the weekend. The murderers, according to Mwanza regional police commander, Mr Simon Siro, made away with the deceased person's private parts, leaving the rest of his body torn into pieces. The deceased person, Mr Sengerema Mulyakendo, was living alone at his house.

Mr Sirro told journalists at his office in the city that a stench wafting from the house enabled neighbours to learn about their colleague's death several days after the murder.

The neighbours resolved to break into the house only to find Mr Mulyankendo's naked remains scattered in pieces on the floor, he said.

The deceased person was, to the astonishment of his neighbours, last seen on June 20, this year, at the village.

They called in police officers at around 2pm last Friday immediately after learning that their neighbour was brutally murdered in his house.Police officers linked the murder with ongoing spate of witchcraft-related killings in the Lake Zone regions as they embarked on an investigation on the incident.

Tuesday, 29 June 2010

The amount of money spent on HIV/Aids control in the country rose by over 2,000 per cent in six years, from 2001 to 2007.

Speaking as the chief guest to mark the opening of a three-day seminar on HIV/Aids policy review here yesterday, the Mwanza regional commissioner, Mr Abbas Kandoro, said in 2001 the Tanzania Commission for Aids (Tacaids) was allocated a budget of Sh17 billion.

However, by 2007 the budget, which was heavily donor funded, had reached over Sh381 billion, he said. Encouragingly, during the same period the overall adult prevalence rate fell by about one per cent, from 6.7 to 5.7 per cent, he explained.

The government is scrutinising class C driving license holders' competence to reduce the increasing number of accidents in the country, Parliament was told at the weekend.

Home Affairs minister Lawrence Masha said his ministry was analysing the licenses in collaboration with the ministry of Infrastructure Development and the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).

Recent trends indicated that most of the accidents involving passenger vehicles resulted from reckless driving by incompetent drivers, prompting the government to assess the competence of the class C license holders entitled to drive those vehilces.

Drivers with class C licenses, according to Masha, are permitted to drive all types of motor vehicles, including buses and motorcycles.

The minister told the august House that incompetent drivers in possession of licenses meant for driving passenger vehicles were putting lives of wananchi at great risk.

“One intending to drive a passenger vehicle ought to be trained by a qualified institute beforehand….The current situation suggests that most of our passenger vehicle drivers are unqualified for this responsibility,” Masha said.

The bogus class C driving license holders to be revealed during the intensive scrutiny would be provided with lower class driving licenses such as classes B and D, he said.

Meanwhile, Masha said the Traffic Police Department was, in collaboration with TRA, in the process of issuing electronic driving licenses to curb illegal issuance of the same.

He said the process, which would be carried out in stages, would see the first stage taking off in nine regions in September this year. He enumerate the regions included in the first stage as Arusha, Dodoma, Kilimanjaro, Mbeya, Mwanza and Tanga.

Friday, 25 June 2010

One of the major issues raised by several MPs during the ongoing Budget debate in the National Assembly in Dodoma, is the apparent high number of state agencies, executive authorities and parastatals in the country.

The MPs are alarmed about the continued creation of these bodies and want the practice checked. They are worried that the organisations are becoming a big burden to the taxpayer, when weighed against the purpose for which they are being established.

Former Cabinet minister Antony Diallo went as far as warning that the dabbling of such agencies in political matters could undermine democracy. According to him, some of the organisations are in conflict with elected leaders, whom they have locked out of the execution of development programmes in their own areas.

While the government has yet to respond to the MPs’ concerns, more executive agencies are being established. The minister in charge of public service management, Ms Hawa Ghasia, launched two new ones on Wednesday in Mwanza, as part of the celebration of the Public Service Management Week. The new bodies are the Tanzania Mineral Audit Agency and the Water Development and Management Institute.

Tuesday, 22 June 2010

Nile Perch stock in Lake Victoria is slowly, but surely recovering, thanks to the decision by Tanzania and Kenya to seal off their territorial waters to overseas fishermen.

“A latest hydro acoustic survey shows that the Nile perch stock is now crawling towards 400,000 tonnes, up from 340,000 tonnes in 2008,” says Dr John Magufuli, the Livestock and Fisheries Development Minister.

To be precise, Dr Magufuli says, after dwindling from 750,000 tonnes in 2005 to a mere 337,000 tonnes in 2008, the Nile perch stock is currently standing at 367,000 tonnes.

Saturday, 19 June 2010

Announcing the decision in the august House, Mr Pinda said talks on the establishment of Mpanda Region and the upgrading of Arusha Municipality into a city status were in progress.

Reports indicate that the cost of establishing a region stands at between Sh4 and Sh6 billion, while the cost of establishing a new district is about Sh1 billion.

The costs arise from the construction of headquarters, financing of running of the new administration centre, creation of essential infrastructures and from hiring of new civil servants.
Mr Pinda announced the government’s decision to create the new administration areas while winding up his budget speech in the House. The Parliament passed the Sh2.6-trillion budget yesterday evening.

He enumerated some of the proposed new districts as Butiama in Mara Region, Mbogwe in Rukwa Region and Nyang'wale and Ushetu in Mwanza Region.

Friday, 18 June 2010

Geita Gold Mine (GGM) has earmarked Sh600 million for the construction of a dormitory at Nyankumbu Girls Secondary School in Geita District, Mwanza Region.

The GGM social welfare officer, Mr Simon Shayo, told reporters at his office recently that the money would also be used for construction of three classrooms, three science laboratory rooms and a fence at the secondary school.

A contractor in charge of constructing the dormitory, classrooms, laboratory and the fence has already been identified and is ready to start work, which is to be completed by the end of this year.

The secondary school which accommodates students from Forms One to Four was constructed by the mining company. Mr Shayo said the additional support given to the school intended to make it a unique learning institution in the district and the country at large.

Wednesday, 16 June 2010

REPRESENTATIVES from more than 150 public service institutions are meeting in Mwanza effective on Thursday to mark at national level the Africa Public Service Day.

The President’s Office, Public Service Management, has organized the event which is marked throughout the continent on June 23 every year. For the first time the event is marked at national level outside Dar es Salaam since its inception and approval by African Public Service ministers in 2003.

This year’s celebrations will be held at Kirumba stadium in Mwanza. The Acting Permanent Secretary to the ministry, Mr Erick Shitindi said in Dar es Salaam today that the event coupled with exhibition of various items would reflect on the contribution of the civil service sector to the country’s social and economic development.

The Mwanza - Kamanga ferry operator has refuted media reports that its workers were on a go-slow strike.

The Kamanga Ferry Limited (KFL) denied the media reports that its workers have initiated an unofficial strike to protest the recent government’s directives that restricting the use of vehicles exceeding10 tonnes weigh capacity to ply between the Kamanga-Sengerema Road.

But in a statement issued in Dar es Salaam yesterday, KFL denied such reports, saying the company is not in any way protesting or criticising the recently enforced directive by the government.

It distant itself from what the company termed as “series of unfortunate outcomes that has greatly inconvenienced the public that regularly depends on the Mwanza - Kamanga ferry services.”

Tuesday, 15 June 2010

THE National Blood Transfusion Services (NBTS) can manage to collect only 160,000 blood units annually out of the total need of 350,000 units amid allegations that unethical staff in some of the hospitals are selling little available blood to patients.

The Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof David Mwakyusa, said in Mwanza today during the ceremony to mark the World Blood Donors Day that the government would take stern measures to hospital staff found selling blood to patients.

Thursday, 3 June 2010

THE Tandrill company, one of the group companies from Geosearch East African companies, has opened drilling college in Mwanza.

The college is the first of its kind in the East African region and Africa.

It was opened here yesterday by the Chief Operating Officer (CEO), Mike Fitzgerald at the college's grounds in Igombe Ilemela District, about 20 kilometres from the city centre.

Speaking during the inaugural ceremony, the CEO said that the college which will provide in-house training for basic geology course, will also cover safety health environment measures and other skills in the field of exploration.